


Two Compasses

by Romennim



Category: Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Inspired by Poetry, M/M, Multi, POV Female Character, POV First Person, POV Outsider, Romance, Shore Leave, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-04 08:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/708438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romennim/pseuds/Romennim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What you could see if you went to retrieve your superior officers, because - as usual - the transporter doesn't work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Compasses

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Italiano available: [Compasso](https://archiveofourown.org/works/708447) by [Romennim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romennim/pseuds/Romennim)



> **Beta:**[](http://writer-klmeri.livejournal.com/profile)[ **writer_klmeri**](http://writer-klmeri.livejournal.com/)    
> I have wanted to write something like this for ages... Hope you'll like it :)

As soon as I read the message coming from the Headquarters, I feel instantly sorry for the Captain and the Doctor; the two men, in fact, have been ecstatic at the idea of a brief shore leave after so many close, difficult missions. Like some other few people, I have also had the 'privilege' to see them trying to convince the Vulcan First Officer of the 'logical' need to take time, even if short, away from the ship. And that I saw, because I know also about their very new and intimate relationship: an obvious development, in my opinion, that anyone who knows them at least a little and has a bit of insight could have easily seen or predicted.

That is why I am even more sorry than usual about communicating the premature end of shore leave.  
I decide to contact first the Captain, before organizing the other calls to the rest of the crew who is still planet-side.  
When I try to call his communicator, though, the line is disturbed and there is no answer. I try again a few times and then frown. I know the Captain has chosen a part of the planet below very difficult to reach with transportation beam, but he surely wouldn't have chosen one difficult to communicate with.

Still puzzled, I comm Scotty, to see what can be the problem.

"A simple interference caused by the shifting planet atmosphere, my dear" he tells me after I have explained to him the problem.

Odd.

"But didn't the Captain know about it before going down?"

"No, dear... We discovered the anomaly soon after he beamed down and, since it wasn't something dangerous, I decided to not inform him."

I smile. How thoughtful of Scotty: he knows how much the Captain has craved a bit of time alone with his two companions and surely this could have created problems.

"It's better to send someone down with a shuttle to inform him. It won't take more time than the time to beam aboard half of the crew that is planet-side anyway."

Smart Scotty, I think smiling again. If retrieving the Captain took more time than the one necessary for the rest of the crew, he would get angry and Scotty would be reprimanded. Like this, instead, he won't be able to find reasons because of which he should have been informed promptly.

"I'll go down myself, Scotty" I reply immediately.

If their peace has to be disturbed and someone has to inform them in person, at least it has to be someone who knows about them. A person from my department can easily supervise the calls to the rest of the crew.

"Take a pilot with you, please, dear" are Scotty's departing words to me. "I need to supervise the transporter room now."

"Aye aye, sir!" I exclaim with a smile in my voice; I am touched by his obvious - and understandable - worry: I have never been a very good pilot and Scotty and I know it, and he always gets anxious when I have to pilot one of the shuttles myself.  
I comm Sulu and then stand up to reach the hangar deck.

 

With Scotty's indications, it's not hard to find the place where the Captain and the two Senior Officers are.  
Since they are in a small meadow in the woods, Sulu has to land the shuttle almost a kilometer away from them.

Once the landing operations are completed, I tell Sulu I can easily go alone: the planet has no natural dangers and there is no possibility to meet indigenous people, since the first installment is kilometers away.  
Sulu agrees to stay and I get out.

Once out, I'm pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the place: in front of me there is a huge meadow full of flowers of various colors. Behind, a lush vegetation, a wood of the color of emeralds, brightened by the planet three suns that shine in the light purple sky.  
A strange view for a human, but still beautiful and relaxing.

I take a deep breath, to savor the sweet scent of the flowers in the air. Then, I head in the direction where my superiors should be. I walk, enjoying the nature surrounding me and following the indications of my tricorder for almost twenty minutes, before I begin to hear some rumors, the sound of a muffled laughter, whose owner I recognize instantly: the Captain.

I pick up my pace and hurry a bit: even if what I have to say isn't something urgent, my sense of duty is strong enough to instinctively make me go faster.

But when I reach the end of the wood and the beginning of a small meadow, I stop dead at the sight in front of me, the astonishment making me stumble a bit and put my hand on the bark of the tree beside me to steady myself.

But what is in front of me... What is in front of me is something I never thought I'd see in my entire life.  
At a few meters in front of me my three superior officers are laying and relaxing on the grass... And in which position they are relaxing!  
Mr. Spock, the rigid and composed First Officer, is sitting, back against a tree, and calmly massaging the arms of the Doctor who is seated between his legs and leaning against his partner's chest, eyes closed and the most relaxed and calm expression I've ever seen on his face. A soft smile is ghosting on his lips, and I can't help but think how handsome he looks right now.

"Oh, oh, that's it, that's it! Listen you two!"

The enthusiastic voice of the Captain tears my mind away from my musings about the Doctor and I feel a bit guilty at observing such a private moment like this one.  
I'm about to open my mouth to let them know of my presence, when an irritated sigh from the Doctor rises my curiosity, and makes me shut my mouth.

"Yes, Jim?"

The Doctor says, a bit exasperated.

That tone of voice makes me look at the third party, the Captain, and I see that he's sprawled on the grass, his head resting on one of the Doctor's hips, and a real book in his hands.

"This one is perfect, Bones, really! Listen!"

He exclaims excitedly, while looking at something written on the book.  
The sun's rays that filter from the tree leaves illuminate his face and make his hair shine. He's so beautiful.

"Okay, okay, read it... Spock and I will listen."

The Doctor's tone reminds me of the tone used by a father towards his exasperating child. It makes me smile.

"Okay! That's it!" the Captain says and then begins to read something from the book in a serious tone.

_"Our two souls therefore, which are one,_   
_Though I must go, endure not yet_   
_A breach, but an expansion,  
Like gold to aery thinness beat._

_If they be two, they are two so_  
 _As stiff twin compasses are two;_  
 _Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show  
To move, but doth, if th' other do._

_And though it in the centre sit,_  
 _Yet, when the other far doth roam_  
 _It leans, and hearkens after it,_  
 _And grows erect, as that comes home._

_Such wilt thou be to me, who must,_  
 _Like th' other foot, obliquely run;_  
 _Thy firmness makes my circle just,_  
 _And makes me end where I begun._ " *

When the Captain finishes speaking, a silence is descended on the meadow, stopped only sometimes by the chirping of some birds.  
I almost can't breathe... That was a beautiful declaration of what the Captain thinks of the relationship with the two other men... It's so fitting.  
And I didn't know he had a passion for the old poetry.

The silence is interrupted.

"Jim" Mr. Spock begins, and if I didn't know better, I'd say his tone is very cautious.

The Captain moves his neck to look at him.

"Yes, Spock?"

Mr. Spock looks briefly at the Doctor, then at the Captain.

"That was a very meaningful and skilled example of love poetry, but..."

"But what? Isn't it apt for our situation?"

He looks almost endearing, searching for approval like this.

"Jim, the compasses are two, while we..."

A groan from the Doctor stops Mr. Spock mid-sentence, and I wonder why...  
But the reason for the groan is immediately easy to understand.

"I can't believe it, Spock!" the Captain says a bit outraged, ignoring completely the Doctor. "It was just... Just... Oh, forget it!"

He tears his eyes away from the Vulcan, closes abruptly the book and then closes his eyes, ingnoring completely his two companions.

The Doctor just rubs his eyes with his hand.

"Jim." he says softly.

No answer from the Captain.

"Jim, please..." he tries to cajole again.

No answer, then a muffled 'you just don't appreciate me' can be heard, even if I can't see the Captain's face.

The Doctor sighs again and places his two hands on the Captain's shoulders, leaning a bit towards him.

"That's not true, sweetheart... You know how Spock is... And I liked that poem very much."

After a few moments the Captain opens his eyes and turns a bit to look at the Doctor.

"Really?"

The Doctor smiles softly at him... His expression almost mesmerizes me: he's so... So...  
A pang of ache hits me: how much I'd like to have someone that looks at me that way too!

"Yes, really. And I think Spock liked it too. Isn't it right, Spock?"

He turns towards the Vulcan and I almost can see a warning in his eyes.  
The First Officer looks at the Doctor, then at the Captain.

"Yes, Jim. I was... Tactless in pointing that out. I did not think about the meaning of the metaphor."

The Captain still looks a bit uncertain, but the Doctor takes the matter in his hands.

"It was beautiful, Jim" he says. "Now stop complaining and give me a kiss." he drawls.

The effect of his words on the Captain is instantaneous. His face lights up and a seductive smile forms on his lips.

"Come and get it, Bones" he provokes the Doctor.

The Doctor just smiles and leans towards the Captain, until their lips meet.

The kiss from the Doctor's part begins soft and sweet, but the Captain has other ideas, and immediately opens his mouth to deepen the kiss.

I'm rooted to the spot at the display... It's captivating in a way I couldn't imagine before, but I really should make myself known... I have already intruded on their privacy enough.

But even if I want to, I can't seem to be able to open my mouth and speak.

The kiss, meanwhile, is slowly escalating and I notice that one of the hands of the Captain is holding the Doctor down, while the other has trailed under the man's shirt.  
Things are going too fast. I have to say something.

Mr. Spock saves me from my inactivity.

"Jim, Leonard, please, cease... We have an audience."

The two men stop and look at Spock gesturing towards me and, as I'm pinned by three gazes, I feel myself blushing furiously.  
I wonder if it can be noticed.

With unsteady legs I leave my place beside the tree and begin walking towards them, trying to fight my embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Captain, but we have received a message from Starfleet..."

**Author's Note:**

> *The piece is part of a poem ("A Valediction Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne) that I found by chance and that I think is one of the best description of what love is.
> 
> ***
> 
> Originally posted on August 26th, 2010


End file.
